Etymologically
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hasta

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈhas.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈas.ta][1]

Forms

hasta f (genitive hastae); first declension[1] The spelling asta is frequent in manuscripts.[2][3]

Etymology

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *χastā- and thinks it probably not of Indo-European origin: with Middle Irish gat (“osier, withe”), Middle Irish gass (“twig, branch”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌶𐌳𐍃 (gazds, “sting”), Old High German gart (“goad”) and Old Norse gaddr (“goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gazda-, it points to a borrowed word with a cluster ⟨*-sT-⟩.[4] He finds the comparison with Umbrian hostatu doubtful, since its meaning is unknown and its ⟨o⟩ does not match Latin ⟨a⟩.[4] Others reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰasto- (“rod, branch”).[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus.[4][5] Ennius has hastātī spargunt hastās, “the spearmen scatter their spears”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Hasta is a spear or javelin, chiefly for throwing (Plautus: he chased his mother and father with spears).[2][3][1] A hasta pūra or dōnātica was a headless spear given for valour.[2] A spear set up in the ground marked a public auction, as of goods confiscated by the state (Cicero), and the spear was also the symbol of the centumviral court, which judged cases of property and inheritance.[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “spear, pike, javelin”.[6] In medieval Latin it is also a spit, and a rod as a measure of area.[7]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[4][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: hastātī spargunt hastās.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato: hastās dōnāticās.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of an auction hastā positā.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A spear, javelin, pike.[2][3][1][6]
  2. (hasta pūra) A headless spear given as a reward for valour.[2]
  3. A spear set up at a public auction; an auction.[2][3]
  4. The spear of the centumviral court.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A spit; a rod (a measure of area).[7]

Word family

  • astella
  • hastārius
  • hastātus
  • hastīle
  • hastula
  • subhasto

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill